Sermon – Mark 15:1-29 – King of the Jews

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Mark 15:1-29 – King of the Jews
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
March 29, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

We are now at the fifth Sunday of Lent and we have been on quite a journey. Its been a month since we sat with Judas and the other disciples with Jesus as his body was anointed for death. Three weeks ago we gathered with the disciples and Jesus around the Passover table in an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem. Then two weeks ago we prayed with Jesus on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, and we were there as Jesus was arrested. Last week we accompanied Jesus as he was taken into the palace of the High Priest for interrogation, and watched as a slave girl interrogated Peter. The context for all of this, for all of the New Testament for that matter, is the Roman occupation of Judea and Galilee. This context is today our text.

But before we get to the text please pray with me. Holy Spirit, open our eyes and our hearts to hear from God this day. Make us receptive to whatever God wants to communicate to us in today’s scripture and this sermon. Bless me with the gift of preaching. And bless this congregation with the gift of hearing and understanding. Amen.

Mark 15:1-20 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

2 Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "You say so." 3
Then the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 Pilate asked him again, "Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you." 5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

6 Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. 7 Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. 8 So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. 9 Then he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" 10 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" 13 They shouted back, "Crucify him!" 14 Pilate asked them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him!" 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

16 Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. 18 And they began saluting him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19 They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 20 After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

Each Sunday after the sermon we recite one of the ancient creeds. The Apostles Creed teaches us that Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” It refers to the scripture that I just read. But who was this Pontius Pilate whom we talk about each Sunday?

We know that Pilate was an upper middle-class Roman with political ambition. In 26AD he was appointed by the Emperor Tiberius as the fifth praefectus of Judea. Later he became the procurator and had full control over the province. His army contained 120 cavalry and over 3000 infantry organized into 4 or 5 cohorts. As procurator, Pilate had control over life and death. The Sanhedrin could only sentence someone to death with his approval. Pilate appointed the High Priest and the priestly vestments were in his control and only released at important festivals which he attended. Pilate ruled from Caesarea where his army was stationed. A garrison was also stationed at the fortress Antonia near Jerusalem.

There were many complaints against Pilate. The first century historian Josephus tells us that the relationship between Pilate and the Jews was hostile. When Pilate first arrived in Judea he order banners with the portrait of Emperor Tiberius to be hung in Jerusalem. This infuriated the Jews who viewed this as a violation of the second commandment prohibiting idolatry. After six days of violence Pilate removed the banners from the holy city and hung them in Caesarea.

The first century Jewish writer, Philo, tells us that Pilate has five gold shields made in honor of Emperor Tiberius and placed them in his home. This too caused problems and Pilate moved the shields to a pagan temple in Caesarea. The biggest complaint against Pilate was that he was stealing money from the Temple treasury. He was using the money from the temple to build an aqueduct to provide water for the city. A crowd of ten thousand demonstrated against Pilate for this outrage at one of the festivals and Pilate sent troops into the city in disguise and slaughtered many of the protestors. This angered Herod, the king of Galilee, because many of the victims were his people.

Pilate finally got into trouble with Rome when he slaughtered a large group of Samaritan pilgrims coming to Mt. Gerizim. A group of Samaritans went to Vitellius, the Governor of Syria, to complain about Pilate’s actions. Vitellius ordered Pilate to Rome in 37AD and tradition tells us he committed suicide.

A coin minted by Pilate for use in Judea can be seen in the British Museum. It is made of copper and has the emperor’s religious insignia, the liutus or augur’s staff and the pagan libation bowl.

By all accounts Pilate was stubborn, harsh, rigid, spiteful and wrathful. His primary concern was to please his Roman superiors and this meant he needed to keep the lid on unrest by his Jewish subjects. (D.H. Wheaton, New Bible Dictionary 1996, pp. 929-30) And this is the guy to whom the Sanhedrin brought Jesus.

When Jesus was brought before Pilate the main question was whether or not Jesus was the “King of the Jews” and therefore a usurper of the Emperor’s authority. This question was far different from what the Sanhedrin had asked Jesus, if he was the messiah and the Son of God. Jesus had answered the Sanhedrin’s questions positively, but gave no replay to Pilate’s questions. In fact this question was never answered because all Pilate wanted was to satisfy the crowd, and if they wanted Jesus dead so be it.

The Apostle Peter was a witness to all of this and this is what he later said:

Acts 3:13-19 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. … 17 "And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

As Peter makes very clear the sentence of death that was given to Jesus was not the fault of the Jewish authorities who whipped up the crowd. The death of Jesus was not fault of the crowd who called for his crucifixion. The death of Jesus was not the fault of the soldiers who mocked him. The death of Jesus was not even the fault of Pilate, under whose authority Jesus was executed. No, all of these people acted in complete ignorance that Jesus had come toearth to suffer for our sake, so that our sins might be forgiven, so that we might be reconciled to God, and that we might receive new life. All of this was made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross where all of our debts were paid in full and our sins washed away. Jesus was sentenced to death by God whose plan was to restore the relationship between God and us as God wants.

The saving grace that comes to us through the death of Jesus Christ is greater than the sin of being a Roman tyrant. The saving grace that comes to us through the crucifixion is greater than the sin of not recognizing Jesus as the messiah. The saving grace of Christ’s sacrifice is greater than the sin of the crowd who demand his death. And the saving grace of Jesus is greater even than the sin of Pilate who put political expediency over everything else. So if the saving grace of Jesus Christ is greater than all of this it must be greater than any of our sins. And this is really good news for us because it means that whatever sin we have done in our lives that sin will not survive our journey with Jesus to the cross.

I started this morning with the words from the Apostles Creed that Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” The Nicene Creed which we usually say on Communion Sundays says this a little differently. It says that Jesus was “crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.” What Pilate did, unintentionally, was a gift for us. God used Pilate to give us the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, keep up our spirits as we walk with you to the cross. We suffer when you are mocked and beaten. Help us to keep our focus on the cross which is for us a symbol of the saving grace that God gives us through your death. Bless all of us with that grace and help us to experience forgiveness for our sin, reconciliation with God and newness of life in you. Amen.